Premier League: The Foxes Better Run Fast in Liverpool!

Liverpool vs Leicester City

Arne Slot is approaching the half way stage in his first season as Liverpool boss and it could hardly have gone better as his team sits four points clear at the top of the Premier League table.

When Jurgen Klopp announced his retirement after eight stellar seasons at Anfield there were tears on the Red side of Merseyside. The German coach had brought the good times back, winning Liverpool’s first Premier League title in 2020 and his ‘heavy metal’ football won fans worldwide. But Dutch coach Arne has slotted in seamlessly and a second top flight title in five years is on the cards.

On Boxing Day the league leaders host Leicester City whose prospects could hardly be different. Following promotion the Foxes are struggling to cope back in the big time and new manager Ruud Van Nistelrooy has a very tough assignment in his first job as a coach in England.

Liverpool come into this game on the back of a stunning 6-3 victory away to Tottenham on Sunday while Leicester lost 3-0 at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers and, at SBOTOP odds of 1.07 for the Reds to win, the Foxes will need more than cunning to avoid another mauling!

 

Talking Points

Sensational Salah

Liverpool’s visit to Spurs was always going to be an entertaining bash, when the league top scorers hosted the leaders… and boy did it deliver! The Reds stormed into a 5-1 lead before Spurs came back to 5-3 and Luis Diaz scored his second to make it six of the best for Slot’s men. Mo Salah also scored twice, early in the second half, and those two goals took him clear as the leader in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot. Now 32 years of age, the Egyptian superstar is not yet past his prime; Salah just seems to be getting better and better and Liverpool fans are delighted their club resisted the advances of the Saudi Pro League, where he looked destined to go last year.

He’s scored 170 goals in 266 appearances for the Reds, which is an incredibly tally and, remember, Salah is not a centre forward; he can play through the middle but he spends a lot of his time out on the right flank. And his goals will be a big factor in the Reds success this year.

But this is not a one man team. Diaz is having the season of his life and when you look at the substitutes Slot brought on against Spurs, Curtis Jones, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Harvey Elliot, it shouts out that this is the best squad in the league right now. Arsenal are still pushing hard to stay in touch in the race and Chelsea will expect to recover from a 0-0 draw against Everton to stay second in their pursuit of Liverpool.

But this title is the Reds to lose.

 

Early problems for RVN

When Steve Cooper was sacked as Leicester manager he’d only been in the job for 12 games, and at that point, the Foxes sat in 16^th place.  Now they are in 17^th place and two points above the drop zone, so there is a real danger that Leicester will join the other two newly promoted clubs, Southampton and Ipswich Town, in the bottom three before long. The Premier League 2024 betting odds say all three will return to the Championship and surely that can’t be a good thing for English football.

The appointmentof Van Nistelrooy was big Premier League 2024 news in the Midlands, and up in Manchester where the Dutch coach had an illustrious playing career with the Red Devils. But heavy losses away to Newcastle (4-0) and then at home to Wolves suggest the Foxes and their latest manager may be out of their depth.

Jamie Vardy is top scoring with six goals, which is great news for sentimental souls, but at 37 years of age the arch poacher is not the future, nor can he single handed save the Foxes. Experienced defender Conor Coady is at the heart of defence and he too is up for the fight but, having lost the likes of Kiernan Dewsbury- Hall in the summer, Leicester are woefully short of youthful quality.

 

History

Liverpool have won 23 of these encounters in the Premier League era but the Foxes have had a fair amount of success, with ten wins and six draws.

In terms of recent form, with four wins and two draws from the last six games Liverpool are in great shape, which is more than can be said for Leicester, who have won one, drawn one and lost four of the last six. And the Reds have won six of their eight home league games, losing one and drawing one.

 

Betting Tip

As a former Manchester United player Van Nistelrooy will get a red hot reception at Anfield, and I suspect his players will be chasing shadows for much of the game.  At 9.06 to draw and 14.44 to win the Foxes look likely to be in deep trouble and I can see another goal fest in the Reds’ favour and, for a correct score line, a 4-0 home win is priced at 7.91.

   

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